Emailing compressed files

Creating a compressed .zip file is a great way to more efficiently email multiple or large files.

Windows

Compress:

Locate the file(s) or folder(s) to be compressed.

Once selected, right-click the file(s) or folder(s) and select Send to, then click Compressed (zipped) folder.

There should be a newly created .zip archive located in the same directory. Once the new zipped file has been created, right click on the file and select Rename to rename the file appropriately.

Extract:

Locate the compressed folder.

Now either:
a. Extract a single file by double clicking the compressed folder, finding the desired file, and drag and dropping it to a new location.
b. Extract all files by right-clicking on the compressed file and selecting Extract All.

Mac OS X

Compress:

Locate the file(s) or folder(s) you want to compress.

Once selected, right-click (Ctrl-Click) the file(s) or folder(s) and select Compress Items.

There should be a newly created .zip archive located in the same directory. Once the new zipped file has been created, right click on the file and select Rename to rename the file appropriately.

Extract:

Locate the .zip archive.

Double-click on the archive. The Archive Utility should place the uncompressed directory in the same directory as the .zip archive.